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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/27624610">Never Unkind</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/autumnsnows/pseuds/autumnsnows'>autumnsnows</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Fragments [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Final Fantasy XIV</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>End of the World, F/M, Trauma</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-11-19</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-11-19</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 16:47:43</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Graphic Depictions Of Violence</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,918</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/27624610</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/autumnsnows/pseuds/autumnsnows</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>What if the Ascians only remained Unsundered thanks to Azem?</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Azem/Solus zos Galvus | Emet-Selch</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Fragments [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/2019727</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>27</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Never Unkind</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Probably part of a series, gonna play around in the space of the immediate post-sundering history going into their initial attempts at Rejoinings from both Hades and Azem / WoL's viewpoints. <br/>cw for some body horror / gruesome injury</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p><span>“Azem?! Azem!!” Hades coughed and gagged as the sulphur and ash filled his lungs with every breath. Around him, the city burned - the streets were a shimmering black mass of fabric and panic as the Amaurotines ran in the only direction they could - away from the horror, if but for a few minutes more. But as he dashed down the street, his mask and hood long abandoned, he knew the greater horror lay ahead of him if he did not make it in time. </span><span>“Azem! Where are you?!” Hades yelled hoarsely as he sharply rounded the corner, his right shoulder smashing into the pole of a street lamp he hadn’t even processed was there. He barely winced in pain as his right shoulder and arm briefly went limp, the sickening crackle of broken bone but a faint pop in the din that filled his ears. </span><span><br/></span><span><br/></span><span>“Azem! I’m not going to lose you!” Hades shouted to the chaos. Reaching the building where he and Azem lived, he threw open the door. A quick glance to the elevator confirmed what he had already suspected - he was going to have to climb the stairs. </span><span><br/></span><span><br/></span><em><span>She had always made fun of how out of shape he was. It was never unkind, but certainly a bruise to his pride. If he could only reach her, he would gloat about his achievement.</span></em><span><br/></span><em><span><br/></span></em><em><span>“</span></em><span>It doesn’t have to be like this, Azem! We can find another way! There’s still time!” </span><span><br/></span><span><br/></span><em><span>She had always made fun of how meticulous and careful he was about everything. It was never unkind, but certainly a bruise to his pride. If he could only reach her, he’d gloat about how careful planning had paid off. </span></em><span><br/></span><span><br/></span><span>“Azem! We can run away! We have enough time to try again! We’re not at our last resort yet!” </span><span><br/></span><span>His entire body operated automatically, without a single thought or input, as he threw open the door to the roof-top apartment the two of them shared. </span><span><br/></span><span><br/></span><em><span>She always made fun of how much he worried over her. How much he pleaded with her to not be so reckless. It was never unkind, but certainly a bruise to his pride. </span></em><span><br/></span><span><br/></span><span>Azem smiled to herself. When he reached her, she would make sure to make fun of him for it.</span><span><br/></span><span><br/></span><span>“Azem! Please, come with me!” Hades burst through the glass door separating their apartment from the roof proper. There Azem sat on the edge of the roof, staring in the direction of the stars now obscured by a thick blanket of smoke and dust. “Azem! The next one will work! I’m sure of it!” Tears fell from his face, the tears’ salt mixing with the dirt, blood and abrasions to make any small movement unbearably painful. He fought to keep his eyes open and his composure level. </span><span><br/></span><span><br/></span><span>“I’m sure it will, my darling. But we both know there’s not going to be a next one.” The barest hint of a soft smile curled up her lip as her hand grasped at something at her chest. She turned around to look at Hades, her mask still on. “We both know this is the only way we have a chance.”</span><span><br/></span><span>Hades ran to her as she stood up, her hand still clutching at her chest, wrapping his good arm around her and crushing her into a possessive hug.</span><span><br/></span><span>“NO! NO! You’re wrong!” Hades yelled, sobbing into her shoulder. “We have time! I can fix this!” </span><span><br/></span><span>“We don’t. You’re smarter than that.” Azem spoke softly and kindly, sadness lacing every single word. “And the longer you keep me, the smaller our already slim chance becomes.”</span><span><br/></span> <span><br/></span><span>“</span><em><span>I’m not losing you!” </span></em><span>Hades bellowed, his voice loud enough to cause the rubble to tremble. </span><em><span>“I’d rather face oblivion than have you leave me!” </span></em><b><em><br/></em></b><b><em><br/></em></b><span>“Darling, you’re always so dramatic.” Azem gently scolded, lifting her free hand up to cup Hades’ face. “I know you better than anyone - oblivion terrifies you, because that means there’s nothing more for you to take apart and put together again. That’s what terrifies all of us. Myself included.” A tear from Hades fell down onto Azem’s thumb. She used the water to gently wash away some dirt on Hades’ cheek. “Even if whatever comes next is terrible, it’s better than nothing. Besides,” she said, pulling his head into her shoulder. “We’ll see each other again. It’ll take a while, but it’s inevitable, right? We’re both far too stubborn to be apart for long.” </span><span><br/></span><span><br/></span><span>Azem was surprisingly warm and calming  despite the harrowing circumstances. She was already far past the point of acceptance. </span><span><br/></span><span><br/></span><span>“...You promise?” Hades asked. He knew what the answer would be, but he needed to hear it from her. “If you make me wait too long I’m going to be pretty angry when I do find you!” He choke-laughed as he said those words, the unbearable gravity of the situation pulling against the brief moment of happy weightlessness. </span><span><br/></span><span><br/></span><span>“Oh, you’ll be angry at me anyway, darling. I won’t be rushing, and I hope you won’t, either.” She ran her fingers along Hades’ chin. “When the time is right, we’ll be together again.” </span><span><br/></span><span>Letting her fingers gently drop off his chin, she brought her hand to her own face, her fingertips wrapping around the edges of her mask. </span><span><br/></span><span>“Until then, keep an eye out for me, would you?” </span><span><br/></span><span>Tensing her fingers, Azem gracefully pulled the mask off her face. Even in the death and destruction that rained down around them, her eyes still seemed to catch the light of an absent sun, the deep hues of her blue irises an almost painful contrast to the dull reds, blacks, and browns that surrounded them. Pressing the mask against Hades’ chest, she pushed him out of grasp before sliding it into your hand. </span><span><br/></span><span>“We will not see each other as we see each other now. That does not mean we’ll never find each other. Carry my mask to remind you - remind you that even when everything seems hopeless, there’s still something you need to unmask. Someone you need to see again.” </span><span><br/></span><span>Hades looked down at the mask in his hand for a long while. </span><span><br/></span><span>“And again, I’ve put the eminent architect at a loss for words,” Azem teased, turning around, her fingers fidgeting with the object held against her chest. “I look forward to hearing you blather on as always when next we meet.” </span><span><br/></span><span>Lifting her hand in the air, the object in her hand - a small orange crystal, shaped almost like the end of a round knife - floated up into the sky. Suddenly, Hades felt a powerful pull. Falling to the ground, he dug at the ground with one hand, the other clutching Azem’s mask as he tried to anchor himself. </span><span><br/></span><span>“Azem, no! Let me go with you! Azem!” Hades shouted. A small smile crossed Azem’s face as the crystal above her anchored in place in the middle of the sky. In the middle, a yellow circle growing in size and intensity, a maelstrom of energy gathering around it as the sky’s grey and brown ash turned to brilliant, blinding sunlight. </span><span><br/></span><span>“I love you, Hades,” Azem said. </span><span><br/></span><span>Snapping her finger, the pull of the rift behind Hades strengthened. His fingers slipped near immediately, and he could feel himself catapulting backwards. </span><span><br/></span><span>“Azem! I’ll find you again! No matter the cost!” Hades yelled, his words barely making it past the void that consumed him.</span><span><br/></span><span><br/></span><span>“Azem! I love you!” </span><span><br/></span><span><br/></span><span>The last thing Hades saw was a brilliant flash of light, and the silhouette of Azem rising up into the sky, her arms held out to her sides. </span><span><br/></span><span><br/></span><span>And then, nothing.</span><span><br/></span><span><br/></span><span>--- </span><span><br/></span><span><br/></span><span>“Hades! Oi, Hades! Wake up!” </span><span><br/></span><span>Hades’ hands scraped at hard, cold earth as he jolted awake. Igeyorhm kneeled beside him, a wave of relief washing over her face as his eyes opened. </span><span><br/></span><span>“That’s all of us awake, then,” she said. Her relief was quickly replaced by deep concern. “How are you feeling?”<br/>Hades looked up at her. It didn’t take the acuity of a member of the Convocation to see the despair and helplessness she struggled so hard and so in vain to keep hidden. </span><span><br/></span><span>“I assume the same as all of us,” Hades said, sighing. Pressing his hands into the dirt, he grunted as he pushed himself up into a sitting position. “Where exactly are we?”</span><span><br/></span><span>“Not entirely sure,” Igeyorhm said, her eyes staring far past Hades. “We know where we’re not, though.” Slightly confused, Hades turned his head and softly gasped.<br/>In a deep inky blackness there laid their star, a deep, angry tear running straight through the middle as if it meant to split the two apart. Stumbling to his feet, Hades ran toward the blackness only to slam into an invisible concave barrier. Cursing in pain as he bounced backwards, he threw his hands out and began to walk forward, trying to find the limit of the barrier;  when his fingers were yielded, he pressed forward, trying to get himself as close to the star as possible. </span><span>The angry tear in the star continued its work, shards of their reality ripped apart like one might rip bark off a tree limb. The Sound was still audible, but unlike it had been in Amaurot, it was very far away. The sickly, unbearable noise, the one that never let your mind rest; a minor chord left unresolved forevermore - it no longer plagued their every thought. Untainted sanity began to trickle back through their minds - clean waters gently washing a terrible toxic cloud away from their sight and reason. </span><span><br/></span><span>“She was right,” Lahabrea said, walking forward to stand behind Hades. “This plan worked.” </span><span><br/></span><span>Hades couldn’t help but sob a little. She was indeed right. Hers was the only plan that would have saved them from oblivion. But not without cost. </span><span><br/></span><span>“And she’s gone,” Hades said. “We’re here, and she’s gone.” </span><span><br/></span><span>Igeyorhm and Lahabrea opened their mouths; the counter-argument, the points they would make to refute Hades’ point, never came. </span><span><br/></span><span>“I thank you for the decency of not insisting she’s not gone, though I know you were tempted,” Hades said, his eyes still staring unblinking at their ruined star. “Denial will save us all some sanity.” </span><span><br/></span><span>Elidibus appeared for the first time, his white robe as bold contrast to whatever plane they found themselves on as it had been when he stalked the halls of Anyder. “Hades is right,” Elidibus said, lifting off his hood. “We must assume all is a complete loss.” Sitting down, Elidibus summoned a quill with a wave of his fingers, and began to write into the book. “We must now decide whether reversing or rebuilding time is the way forward.” </span><span><br/></span><span>The group of them didn’t look at each other, their eyes a destroyed world away as the gravity of their circumstances filled the cognitive cracks in their mind, a liquid filling and illuminating spaces that had been dark for longer than they had remembered them being. </span><span><br/></span><span>“<br/>...We rebuild,” Hades said, standing up straight. “What has happened, happened. Her plan was always to rebuild, and so we will rebuild.” Pushing off from the barrier that separated Hades and the other Amaurotines from whatever protected them from their star’s sundering, he turned around and looked at the rest of them.</span><span><br/></span><span>“Azem’s sacrifice will not be in vain. There will be no deviation from her plan, except where it exists in opposition to the will of Zodiark.<br/><br/>We will rebuild.” Hades said. <br/><br/>The others looked at him, unable to speak the words that fluttered through their mind but still expressing their agreement. </span><span><br/></span><span></span><br/><br/></p>
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